Nous Arrivons a Chamonix!! (We've arrived!)

4 Flights, 2 transfers, one re-fueling stop and a bus ride later we finally made it to Chamonix  in the French Alps. It took over 35 hours and resulted in very little quality sleep for Jen or I as seats are made for 3 foot dwarfs with no legs. Trying to sleep on these flights (in economy - b..stard Business Class!) is akin to Chinese Water torture - try as you may, no position makes the numb bum go away, then the legs or knees stiffen up and if you lazily push them into the aisle some good fairing steward/stewardess or hapless traveler inevitably kicks, trips or swears at you. Given the kids fit (more or less) into the seats, they tend to splay themselves all over you and given which child you've had the fortune of  sitting next to, they may or may not serve out a few random kicks just to keep you aware they're still there - usually just as you've crossed into sleep territory! If you're not trying to sleep or get comfortable the stewards are plying you with food and at pretty much all hours so by the end you feel like an exhausted, under-exercised, bloated blimp with a day and a half of facial growth (unless you're Jen of course). Driving into the Alps though made it all worth it - this is beautiful country. You actually feel like you've landed into the Tour de France in wintertime - previously this mystical place - seeming to exist only on television! Amazing! With a second wind we managed to meet up with Jen's parents and Fraser at the hotel - Les Balcons de Savoy. It sits just on the edge of Chamonix proper which is essentially a small town at the base of 4 different ski areas. Our view from the balcony looks out to Mt Blanc and this side of Chamonix. Found I haven't totally lost an ear for 'la Francais' and had to use some Spanish last night to help a co-conferencer organize his ski lessons! Should be at least somewhat bilingual by the end of the trip (wishful thinking!) Auntie Pinny joined us late last night so we've only caught up this morning and will hit the slopes today! It's only minus11 Celsius - a bit of a change from the +42 at Adelaide Zoo only a couple days ago! Conference starts tomorrow so we have a day to rip it up! It's all good!